He tore the brown paper off, revealing a see-through Lucite cane I’d covered with pressed flowers. I’d recruited Felix to help me steal flowers from Leo’s shop. After I’d dried and glued them onto the cane, I’d covered everything with a clear coat to seal them.
Leo was quiet as he took it in. When he looked up at me, there were tears in his eyes. “Jigareto bokhoram. This is amazing.”
He used his cane to stand and pulled me tight against his body.
“You’re welcome. You can eat my liver anytime.”
Jaunty folk music playedby our local band, The Light Rovers, filled the air as the residents of Starlight Grove danced and sang around the maypole.
My guys had gone to get us food and drinks, leaving me with my moms, who were all sporting flower crowns and outfits I’d sewn for them through the years. Mamma wrapped her arm around me. She was wearing the first blazer I’d ever made in high school—the one with wonky, puckered seams and the interior pocket I’d embroidered withI love youin Swedish. I’d made her much better outfits in the years since, but she said this one was her favorite because of how hard I’d worked on it.
“How’re you doing, love?”
I rested my head against her shoulder. “I’m happy.”
She squeezed my shoulder. “Good.”
“Uh-oh,” Mom said. “We might be waiting on food for a while.”
I followed her gaze to see an intense Stanley cornering Wilder.
“Should we rescue him?” Lala asked as Stanley frantically waved his clipboard.
Jojo snorted as she wrapped her arm around her omega. “Youcan, but I’m not about to get roped into another Stanley lecture.”
“So…” I fidgeted with my skirt. “What do you think of my guys?” Between my heat and time-intensive Midsummer prep, we’d only gotten together with my moms once for dinner at the Azad house. It had gone really well—all of our parents had gotten along right away—but I hadn’t had time to really talk to my moms about everything that had happened over the past couple of months.
“I was worried they’d be like your exes, but our new sons are wonderful,” Lala said.
“Yoursons? When did you get so close?”
“You’ve been busy at night, darling, so we’ve spent some time together.” Mamma patted my arm as if she hadn’t dropped a huge bombshell.
“Doingwhat?”
“Just mother/son things,” Jojo said.
“Nothing bonds you like a trip to Newburyport,” Mom added.
“Newburyport? What are you talking about?”
“I was worried about a New York City CEO,” Jojo continued. “I thought he might be too uptight and not reallygetyou. But he has a diabolical mind, and I fully approve.”
“Agreed,” Mamma said. “I never would have thought to mist fabric furniture and rugs with milk.”
“And his tech connections are impressive. He even let me be the one to send the intel.”
“What intel?” I asked loudly.
“Not that I was surprised they’re cheating again,” Mom said, fully ignoring my question. “But they won’t be able to get away with that again.”
“What are—”
“Oh, I love this song!” Lala said. “Let’s go.” My moms joinedhands and ran to the maypole, grabbing Tara and Mahmoud on the way. Leo’s parents had fully embraced the Midsummer spirit with their yellow and blue outfits and flower crowns.
I scanned the crowd and spotted Leo heading toward me with a slice of cake. I jogged over to him.
“I’m going to pretend you couldn’t stand being away from me for a minute longer, and not that you ran over for cake,” he said with a grin.
